Why Is Obama Still Likable?

Unlike Clinton, however, who seems sincerely to be an affable good-ol’-boy who obviously likes people, Obama comes across as quite different. What the media and even some conservatives laughably call his “cool” is actually an arrogant disdain for other people, particularly those who refuse to worship at his shrine. His narcissism is monumental, as when last month he told a group of NBA players, “It’s very rare that I come to an event where I’m like the fifth- or sixth-most interesting person.” This self-regard is made even more distasteful by the gap between it and his obvious incompetence daily revealed in everything from verbal gaffes to ignorance of basic economics, not to mention his utter failure to turn the economy around. He has arrogant mannerisms, such as lifting his chin when he lectures, his addiction to the first-person pronoun, and his verbal tics like “Let me be perfectly clear,” as though he were speaking to incompetent underlings rather than the citizens he supposedly serves. His claims to be “post-racial” have been belied by his incessant dealing of the race card to deflect criticism, as when he called his grandmother a “typical white person” for fearing the statistically factual probability of being the victim of a black criminal.

His nice-guy persona is also belied by his political minions’ vicious ad hominem attacks on Romney and the Republicans, and by his fondness for using scorched-earth tactics against his political enemies. Witness the coarse, unnecessary attack on the Catholic Church over the contraception mandate, or his last minute demand for another $400 billion of tax increases in his negotiations with John Boehner over raising the debt ceiling last year. And let’s not forget his juvenile penchant for blaming others for his own mistakes, particularly his ungracious treatment of his predecessor, made all the more glaring by George Bush’s classy restraint. Finally, there are the numerous unsavory details from his past, such as palling around with terrorist Bill Ayers, getting his political opponents’ sealed divorces record unsealed, spending 20 years in racist Reverend Wright’s church, and profiting from his association with convicted real estate operator Tony Rezko. What’s so “likable” about all that?

The obvious answer, as Rush Limbaugh has argued, is the “Bradley Effect.” In 1982, Los Angeles’s black mayor Tom Bradley had a significant lead over George Deukmejian in the race for California governor, but ended up losing. Some argued that voters lied to pollsters about their support for Bradley because they feared being seen as racist or prejudiced, thus creating the discrepancy between pre-election polls and the final result. Other elections that seemed to reflect this phenomenon were the 1989 New York mayor’s race between Rudy Giuliani and David Dinkins, and the 1989 Virginia governor’s race between Douglas Wilder and Marshall Coleman. Dinkins and Wilder both won their elections, but by margins much narrower than predicted by pre-election polls.

If the “Bradley Effect” is at work in the polls measuring Obama’s likability, then the dysfunction of America’s race relations is even worse than we thought. Obama has governed not as a centrist like Clinton or even a conventional liberal like Bradley or Wilder, but as a doctrinaire progressive who is way out of touch with the center-right American political majority. Nor does his arrogant public personality soften the extremism of his politics. If a significant number of Americans are telling pollsters that they find someone so out of touch with their political beliefs “likable,” just because they’re afraid of appearing “racist” by criticizing a black man, then the race card remains a powerful trump. Whether it’s powerful enough to return a manifest failure to the White House remains to be seen.

Bruce Thornton is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, a Research Fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, and a Professor of Classics and Humanities at the California State University. He is the author of nine books and numerous essays on classical culture and its influence on Western Civilization. His most recent book, Democracy's Dangers and Discontents (Hoover Institution Press), is now available for purchase.

http://www.resonoelusono.com/NaturalBornCitizen.htm Alexander Gofen

The author did not really reply the question he posed, why the Manchurian impostor Obama/Soetoro/Soebarkah is still "likeable". Here are more relevant explanations.

1) America became fat and brain dead; The nation with a majority of freeloaders living on other's people money, and having their "dear man" in the White House. (… became fat and kicked … and it deserted God its Maker… – Deuteronomy 32:15).

2) America became so much brain dead that it refuses to see the "audacity of fraud" – the most blatant into the face fraud, mind you. The fraud such as entry "African" instead of "Negro" in the alleged document of 1961 (not to mention tones of other material evidence of forgeries, the stolen social security number of the impostor, and indeed his foreign citizenship through the alleged father and step father…)

3) The supposed (but in reality "controlled") opposition (repooooblican party) got corrupted so much, that it went out of its skin to not bring fore the issue of ineligibility and criminality of the opponent. IN DOING SO, REPOOOOBS ADDED LEGITIMACY, ENCOURAGED the obots, and boosted likability of the impostor.

4) THE MERE FACT OF Romney's WILLINGNESS TO RUN AGAINST A NOTORIOUS THIEF (!) means that Romney has no human dignity! (Never mind the integrity and duty to uphold the Constitution). This too contributes to legitimizing and boosting the impostor's chances.

You, like me, are now on a list……the average voter is apathetic, uninformed, and incredibly selfish. I said AVERAGE. Note that I also did not say CITIZEN. " Voter" no longer equates to "citizen" in this country…..

tarleton

Well ,there some truth in what you write , unfortunately you sound like another paranoid Russian conspiracy theorist and ''birther ''

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLNn2YflwNs Roger

Or someone that doesn't listen to enough MSNBC and isn't drunk on coolaid.

Jim_C

Yes, America is stupid when they vote for the other guy, and smart when they vote for my guy.

You're a real political genius.

http://www.resonoelusono.com/NaturalBornCitizen.htm Alexander Gofen

Hm, who is that MY guy whom you mean? Have I mentioned any? A part of the drama is that here is no such guy at all now who upholds the Constitution, Justice, and the mere law and order.

Huffer

As for political power, Deuteronomy 17:16-20 reads:
16: The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself … he must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. 18: When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law … and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20: and not consider himself better than his brothers.
So the king must not accumulate large amounts of gold and silver, he is to follow the law, and he must not consider himself better than his fellow citizens.

So what happened to our guidelines?

dmw

Yes. The above the difference between a real King and a 'King of Cool'. The difference between the LORD (ultimately) being King and the worship of a temporal King that can get away with the subjugation and even slaughter of his own people. An idol. We are in abject idolatry. A state of lawlessness because too many are ignorant and/or have denied the foundational law before and above our founding law..

Tarleton

Obama represents the zeit geist , a mere symptom of what's went wrong with America
It was Lenin who said that cinema is the greatest propaganda device ever created , and so it is , but even Orwel never recognised the seductive power of ''soft propaganda '' in the entertainment industry to craft and shape a worldview and create counterfeit values
We are now living in the era of the ''American Idol '' presidency and Obama may be a preening poseur and political Milli -Vanilli , but he's also the king of cool and the sultan of swing ; the victory of style over substance and it is precisely this that explains Obama's success…much of the under 40 crowd live in a Hollywood-esk virtual reality of mindless talent show and moronic talk shows ; the same folk who vote on american idol vote in large numbers for Obama …I wonder if they even know the difference ?

Tarleton

Over the last 40 years we have been in a culture war between the traditional values of conservative , religious America and the liberal/leftist values promoted by Hollywood ….Hollywood has won and Obama is the result …the younger generation are becoming increasingly liberal and the future does indeed belong to the young
Romney suffers from the same problem as Al Gore ; he's an out of touch rich elitist with an angular , dorkish personality that folks intuitively dislike …Gore had every advantage and should have won the 2000 election , but he didn't and neither will Romney

Fritz

Don't bet on it, if anyone comes off as an out of touch elitist it's Barry the incompetent. I just do not see the groundswell of support for this man that there was in 2008, and even then it was only a 52% to 47% victory over the most lackluster of presidential candidates, John McCain. Unlike McCain, Romney is no pushover, he knows what's at stake and is in it to win, you won't hear and lectures from Romney about using B.O's middle name this time.

tarleton

McCain was a FAR better candidate than poor Romney , who is just a conservative version of the insuffferable dork , AlGore

SHmuel HaLevi

After a long conversation with my brother who is still living in Berkeley and working at one or another of the universities there as a PhD Mathematics and PhD Computer science as well as on other specialties, I concluded that knowing what I know as a former Senior-Fellow Engineer US Department of Defense Military Avionics programs added to what i heard from my brother and read and see every day, the USA as we knew it, is gone. I am not a mass psychology analyst so I'll leave the research to identify the causes for the national beaching to experts, if any would be interested.
Where from the present state?
I doubt anyone honest with himself could venture to say. With over 16 trillion debt and a completely substandard government echelon and system and under the worldwide conditions, your guess is as good as mine.
One thing for sure…
No one sane should rely on that unfathomable mess.
It will take a caliber far more suited for National re creation than either of the candidates to pull that wagon out of the deep bog.
Now…
Who can possibly rank to that task?
Start searching my friends because none of those overseas looking into the sorry mess will risk it anymore.
Mr. Obama is a total disaster with teleprompters and Mr. Romney is a very soft bellied also run as seen from the swamp.
The US is mired on an end game scenario. NEED REAL LEADERS NOW!

JayTee

The Romney/Ryan team needs a chance to prove that they're more than media talking points. We KNOW Obama is a disaster, and not giving the new guys a chance is just not smart.

SHmuel HaLevi

True. Yet we here in the Middle East and in particular in Eretz Israel, have very little, if any, elbow room to accommodate flexibility. Yesterday Iran tested a long distance heavy lift cruise vehicle capable of delivering even a cumbersome first generation nuclear weapon against us. They mean to do it. And we mean to prevent that regardless of what consequences will follow. Also yesterday the US voter elected administration sent another blunt reminder that Mr. Soetoro and his associates are our mortal enemies, not at all representatives of a trusted ally. Particularly in times of imminent war. Personally, I am glad that the item "does not have time" and also glad he showed his vicious nature by the also crude, as is his will, removal of key markers in the DNC's parody Platform.
I will be voting against that travesty inserted into the WH, but we all see clearly the lay of the land from the distance. Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan are good people but do they have the will to smash the cover given to the persons in question? They will have to come across as infighters capable of mixing it up with Chicago elements. I lived and worked in Chicago for quite some time during the famous DNC there. I know the political… machine.
There is a very determined all front assault against the US Constitution and US people and we shall not be fall guys in the battle.
Time is not open.
Still, Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Barak and what is behind them are not what we need either but… I hope they do not cow down once again.

cedarhill

The Bradely Effect seems to have only worked once? A lot of the folks I know that are likely Obama voters wouldn't know Jesse Jackson it he slapped them in the face and screamed "racist". Actually, I don't think they could spell "racist'. Something else at work.

Ever wonder why all dictators seem to have wallpapered their country with their images and are constantly reported in "the news"? Even in nations, like Chavez's, where they have a semblance of free elections?

The ones that name the media and propaganda are likely correct. It's not "I like him" so much as "I know him so well…". From the run up to the election in 2008 through yesterday, not a day has gone by without Obama mentioned, cited, quoted, excerpted or noted in all MSM broadcasts, telecasts, news print, internet sites, etc. Think about it. Every day. Every hourly "news". Those that heralded the demise of the MSM influence seem to have bee a tad premature. It's enough to make this race at least even. Likely will still be enough to carry Obama across the finish line. And, but of course, think about that vast propaganda machine called the American Educational System.

No matter that Rush has 20 million listners. No matter that those same 20+/- visit internet sites like this one. The simple fact is the Fourth Estate has openly chosen sides. Watch 2016: Obama's America, again, if needed, to see just some of the list of items not "vetted" by the Fourth Estate. If you have at least average marketing and the MSM behind you …

tarleton

The polls are acurate …there was no Bradley effect 4 years ago …Obama will win this election

Fritz

Keep that dream alive, what put Obama over the top in 2008 was a bunch of idiots and naive college kids who thought it would be cool to elect the first black president, now the novelty is gone and B.O has a governing record and piss poor economy that would shame Jimmy Carter. But keep chasing the comet, there is a flying saucer behind it waiting to take to the promised land of oblivion.

Looking4Sanity

"Why is Obama still likeable?"

Because lazy degenerates likes them some free crap! It's just that simple.

Couple that with all the "fellow travelers" actively seeking their New World Order through the destruction of America, as Founded, and you have the whole picture. This isn't a big mystery. It's an open conspiracy…just like Communism.

lizaz

Agree!!! Like the woman said in a sound bite the night obama was inaugurated, “I’m so happy…he’s gonna pay my mortgage!!” Like someone said this morning on Fox Business, some people think money “grows on a tree in back of the Whitehouse”!!! Or, do we believe the polls???????

Looking4Sanity

There's only one poll that matters, lizaz, and that's the one on November 6th. Be sure to participate!

Amused

It's actually very simple , the Republican Party has sold it arse to it's radical base , for the sake of votes . They are fixated on the obsession of removing Obama over and above running a government that actually does something . And so far , they have NO PLAN to sell other than " remove Obama FIRST , THEN we will tell you our plan ……that's worse than nothing at all in view of the last four years where Republicans are scene basically as obstructionists , and have had the arrogance to say it publicly . Good luck with that .

PaulRevereNow

You can't be serious. Pay close attention: Its Harry Reid and the Dhimmicrats that haven't proposed a budget in at least 3 1/2 years. Its the Republicans that have Paul Ryan's plan, remember?

Indioviejo

It would be truthful if you said that the Democrat Party has sold its soul to to the Marxist. But then it wouldn't be you. would it? I recommend you watch 2016, and check the facts that we are denied by the MSM. Then you will know why we need to get rid of the Manchurian POTUS.

Eva

And what exactly has your Democratic government done, sir/madam? Please refrain from platitudes, list facts only. I say this because your breed only utters demagogue-inspired bs. Before you start typing away, remind yourself that you need to present actual facts with dates, locations and circumstances to substantiate your claim. Sean Hannity correctly calls your type of accusations "drive-by's". You come in as a whirlwind, spew out a few mindless, hate-driven and non-factual accusations and then you attempt to drive away, with your tires screeching, like your beloved disadvantaged gangsta youth do. So, put on your big boy pants and explain yourself.

amused

LOL funny you should mention the Chimpanzee in the suit -Hannity , anyone who gives credence to that liar and political lackey , does not possess the intelligence required for a sane debate . Other than your stupid juvenile assssumptions you got nothing , so run along little sycophant , and sit and watch while the Teabaggers take over your show and get the credit rating of the US knocked down another notch . "Hatedriven " ? Oh really ? I guess you are just a piece of meat with a partial remnant of a brain , not to see the hatred of one man tear your guts apart . " Facts " ? lolol…..they are not in the domain of your crippled mind chumpette .By the way your racist teeth are showing . Go get a room with Hannity

Eva

As expected, there were no facts. So typical of your breed. Just ad hominem attacks. And by they way, your word "sycophant" is misspelled. You must be Obama's classmate who spent his/her college years in a narcotic stupor. Sure shows on your brain cell count and on your grammar. I will buy you a one-way ticket to a socialist heaven of your choice, just get out, do us all a favor. The presence of someone so toxic and hateful doesn't do this country any good. P.S. The credit-ratings of our country were trashed by your beloved fraud in the White House, little Timmy Geitner and the scammers in the administration. Tea Party is as related to this as Michelle Obama's behind to ballet.

Schlomotion

This article is certainly not "in depth." It is an assessment of the President that is every bit as shallow as an analysis of Facebook "likes." What really gets me is that it makes a lot of bones about "the left" but it really isn't an example of rightism. There is nothing in the article where I can say: "Ah, this right here is a genuine conservative opinion." Maybe the complaint about abortion qualifies, but there it is easy to conclude that Mr. Thornton either doesn't really care about abortion in the first place, or it's just one of his privately held weird opinions, or he just hates certain aspects of modernity in general.

The real gasser is that ultimately, Mr. Thornton makes his clincher argument by appealing to Rush Limbaugh. This ranks the analysis well below the daily stock advice on MSN.

Indioviejo

And what aspects of modernity are you referring to, Abortion, Sodomy, free stuff instead of free markets, the Nanny state instead of individual freedom? Stick to the facts, issues, ideas, and stop with the "Ad Hominem" attacks.

Schlomotion

Whoa! You sounded like a Islamic cleric therefore a moment.

Western Canadian

Amazing the way you can come up with posts that don’t in any way, shape or form, relate to the article or to other posters.

Nick

I see that the medication is not working. Someone on this site suggested that you double the dose. Or triple, possibly.

Liberals in the classic sense were those wanting people to make up their own standards and choices.

Progressives of today want government to do that, fascist at best.

So, it's true and not just because Horowitz says so.

Don

This is all very interesting, especially the theory about the Bradley effect. If this is true for Obama in 2012, then the poll numbers right before the 2008 election should have been overstated by a certain percentage, too. Does anyone have those figures?

tarleton

True enough …the polls are acurate …Obama will win

Fritz

Not with gas above $4 a gallon and unemployment over 8% he won't.

distantsmoke

I was astonished when Bill Clinton was re-elected. I was astonished when Barrack Obama was elected and I fear I will be just as astonished by his re-election. I do not understand how anyone could approve of either of these gentlemen to serve as President of the U.S. But apparently a significant number of Americans see value in both gentlemen.

For the sake of my sanity I have put it down to the swing of the pendulum. America began super conservative, and the pendulum is now swinging violently to the left. I can only hope it will begin to swing back to conservative very soon.

Indioviejo

Read an opinion by "Tarleton" stated above, it is a good place to start understanding what happened to the America we love.

tarleton

Wise words indeed …Bob Dole was a faaaar better man than Clinton and John McCain would have been a fine , trustworthy President too ; even Romney is better than Obama , but they are not in the'' spirit of the times ''…..Sometime in the last 10 years America has reached a tipping point where the Hollywood indoctrinated idiots have became a majority and older conservative americans are dying off by the day
The Left has Hollywood promoting its values 24/7 and a stuffy church serman has little chance against the latest blockbuster movie
I NEVER believed for one minute that americans would elect a poseur like Obama , BUT THEY DID …and then I thought they would sober up over ''white guilt'' , BUT THEY DIDN'T…Obama is here to stay !

uptownsteve

What are you astonished about? This country is about far more than white rightwing nutjobs. This is a very diverse and essentially moderate nation. The GOP are on the fast track to extinction.

Asher

Many people do not even watch the President's lieing lips anymore…They know he deceived them, and is still trying to deceive them. Taking Jerusalem and God off the DNC platform, and then re-instating it, doing what was politically correct was the goal, so that they could try and sucker more people into voting for them again. The Nays outnumbered the Yehs, and if Obama had not intervened..the new platform would have ousted God and Jerusalem…The Majority of Americans were very angry…including the Palestinians at the Convention…Islam wants Jerusalem and God out of America and the Socialist Party.

Andy

Romney will lose if he sticks to his sole argument about the economy which the great unwashed mass of voters do not understand. He needs to stop being a gentleman and expose Obama's anti-Americanism, his devotion to Islam, his support of the Muslim Brotherhood, his appointment of czars all over the place like Hitler did when first appointed chancellor in 1933 – hit him with clips of Reverend Wright and his "God Damn America," the Fast & Furious debacle, hit the s.o.b. with all the proof that he is out to sink America – something the dolts on the street can comprehend.

tagalog

In my readings of history, I have come upon several instances where history seems to have unfolded itself by necessity, and people did things and made choices that appear inscrutable at a distance of time, actions and decisions that seem as if they should have been perceived as self-destructive and disastrous, but were done and made anyway, turning the world upside-down for those people.

For much of my adult life, I have heard that we are moving from one large-scale state of human affairs to another, and that the change we are undergoing is millenial. Perhaps we are actually in such a time. That would explain why so many Americans, who obviously ought to know better, still approve of Barack Obama.

Either that, or it's just a temporary bounce coming out of the Democratic Convention.

Andy Lewis

He's only likeable to those with a taste for filth. Unfortunately, that's a lot of people.

The American people will get the government they deserve and more and more people in this country are deluded. A sorry turn of events that could destroy the country's future when and if this sorry excuse for a president gets reelected by hook or by crook.

crypticguise

It's really SIMPLE to me. The IDIOTS who like Obama are uninformed, miseducated and LAZY. They themselves want to be liked and "feel good" about liking a black President. After all, look what nice children he has. We are living in a Nation of MORONS. It may be too late.

johnnywoods

I agree with you assessment crypt but you also have to remember that pollsters can make there surveys say almost anything they want to and the MSM will run with it. I m not so sure of Obummer`s popularity and remeber that "figures don`t lie but liars do figure".

Omar

Well, the president is actually of mixed race.

tarleton

In a democracy you really do get the goverment you deserve and it's becoming increasing clear that the once great American Rebublic does indeed deserve Obama , like Clinton , not once , but twice …this is what comes from an uninformed voting public , indoctrinated by the values of Hollywood , who are more impressed with style than substance
America has finally succumed to creeping E U style socialism ; after all , Obama is more like a president of France or Holland than in the tradition of previous American presidents …he represents a radical shift and realinement of the political axis of America , unfortunately

tagalog

Yeah, but this is a republic, even though the current president is treating it like it's his kingdom.

tarleton

Furthermore , if conservatives are hoping for a ''Bradley Effect '' to give them victory then they are sadly deluded ; there was no B E 4 years ago and there is none now …the poll numbers are correct …Obama is like a long distance runner who is slightly ahead and is confidently striding out over the last mile for sure victory
After 4 years of Obama is Romney really the best that the Reps can do ? for Christsake

Obama is so ''Hollywood-esk …he is young , hip n'cool with a seductive speaking voice and can even sing and dance …THAT is hard to beat

Jim_C

"After 4 years of Obama is Romney really the best that the Reps can do ? for Christsake"

The most relevant question asked. He was the best of all the primary candidates and had the best ability to raise money.

I think the GOP has some young stars who deliberately sat this one out. The hard truth–if you want to hear it–is that the GOP has been running on Reagan's fumes for 30 years. At that point, the democratic message had soured into big government solutions, tired class warfare, and guilt-ridden foreign policy. Reagan offered a positive, can-do vision that appealed to the best in people.

Like the democrats' policies in the 70s, Reagan's vision turned into "tax cuts and fear of enemies everywhere" leavened with tired bromides about "freedom." Sorry, that's no way to run a campaign. Yes, Obama is cool, but he also has the average joe on his mind. Romney in a million years couldn't hope to identify with the average joe. That's just how it is.

C.R.

Barack Obama is not likeable–the majority of those who used to like him and many of those who still do–are believing the Marxist media lies about him–if they knew the truth they would not like him!

http://tarandfeathersusa.wordpress.com/ Iratus Vulgas

I think Obama's so called likability has been a PR ruse since day one. Politically correct liberals and guilty conservatives are just afraid to characterize the man as the [insert obscene epithet here] he actually is. That pernicious race card, you see.

Lisa_H

Rush says don’t be fooled because nothing has changed since 2010 http://www.therightscoop.com/must-listen-rush-don…
Also about Obama being a nice family man. It's all hype. He and his wife don't even believe in giving their daughters presents for their birthday or Xmas. If we knew more about their family life, I wager the picture wouldn't be quite as rosy as portrayed.

drbukk

What's left out here is the colossal stupidity and ignorance of the majority of Democrats. The funniest example is they voted for Alvin Green to face Jim DeMint of SC, because his name is similar to the crooner. Alvin had a very experienced opponent, Vic Rawls. Alvin had been indicted for showing porn photos to a classmate, and was rated totally incompetent by the military. He is barely literate.

cynthia curran

Maybe because REpublicans who were gun-go for Bush and were not gun-go for Mcain or Romeny

cynthia curran

Obama made Romeny the evil corporate guy. Obama had tax evasioners on staff but the income reeturns made pople turn against Romeny and unforunately some prefer God… America by Rev wright over mormonism.

Tatersalad

Democrats demand Mitt Romney release more tax returns and secretly introduce a bill in Congress to seal all of Barack Obama’s college transcripts and records. Does the President have something to hide? Seems he is also a hypocrite on this issue because he was against GWB when it was brought forward during his administration.http://nicedeb.wordpress.com/2011/10/06/it-begins…

Hank Rearden

Obama is the best of the best at campaigning. Only a sustained, focused effort will unseat him. He is at heart an actor – in the pure sense of the word, not necessarily as a pejorative. He inhabits the role that he is supposed to play. That is why he is so effective with the teleprompter. He has no idea if what he is saying has internal contradictions – reducing the deficit while promising more benefits, for instance. He reads the part well. He is good with a crowd. And let's face it, he looks good. He SHOULD have been an actor. He would have done well in Hollywood. It is hard to stay angry at Obama when you see him on the screen, even knowing that he is destroying the country. That is his secret or not so secret weapon.

johnnywoods

Obummer is a great campaigner if you do not actually listen to what he says. I have heard for 20 years that Hillary Clinton was the "smartest woman in the world" and have yet to hear her say anything profound or particularly intelligent. Dittos for "Obummer the Brilliant

Ghostwriter

The problem for President Obama isn't his likability,it's that his policies have failed. Also,that statement that businesspeople didn't build their businesses is going to go a long way to defeating him.

Jim_C

Really? How so? We didn't quite go into a Depression, health care access has been greatly improved, some people got debt relief, the auto industry is doing well….You don't have to agree with these things, you can think they're ultimately unhealthy, but expecting an economy that was built on bubble after bubble to bounce back immediately is kind of silly (though I think he could have done much better in that category, myself).

And anyone who bothered to get the context of what Obama said about business people would know Romney has made the exact same point.

Eva

I doubt if O is as likeable as they say he is. There are news stories all over the net talking about an internet company that for a fee boosts anyone's ratings on social media sites. Specifically, they talked about millions and millions of Facebook Obama followers, but it turned out that these were nonexistent individuals. Just another fraud pulled by the libs. How original…

Jon_Babtist

Thank you for a very interesting article. I find his likability so far below disgusting and nauseating I'm not sure what to call it. How can anyone with a modicum of intelligence fine him likable when nearly every time he speaks it is like having someone spit in your face with his lies. Lies that anyone who had the slightest respect for you would not spew. He is basically saying virtually every time he opens his mouth that he thinks you are an blithering idiot that does not know the facts, the history, the truth and he can slime you with his con-man, manipulative mendacity.

tarleton

Obama has perfected his acting role as ''President'' and now seems destined for an academy award while Romney is now the great unknown …folks have kinda gotten used to Obama , unfortunately

America has now reached a tipping point where the Hollywood indoctrinated idiots outnumber the sensibl;e voters and the re-election of Obama is just the confirmation

tarleton

Furthermore ,it's partly the Republicans fault for not fielding a candidate that is more in tune with the spirit of the times ….Romney is like Al Gore , a rich elitist who lacks the common touch and has the type of personality that many folks intuitively dislike …how else can you explain the loss in the 2000 elections to a little known govener from Texas when Gore had so many advantages ?

Jim_C

Bush won most of the debates, in my opinion. And Gore mistakenly though Bill Clinton's support would be a liability.

You are absolutely right about the GOP. The primary season was way too long, filled with an awful field of unserious people out of whom Romney was clearly the most polished and ready candidate. But Romney has been on both sides of every issue. And that's actually not a bad thing–but he is not able to articulate that balancing act.

Jim_C

Romney has a serious problem–he has to win the independent vote without angering the conservative base. The debacle that was the Republican primary showed that it is (currently) nearly impossible to do both. Then, at the convention, most of the speakers couldn't even be bothered to mention his name. The ones that gave personal testimony served on executive boards with him. That'll stir people's hearts!

I don't like suppositions about character, it's too soap opera for me. I think Romney has integrity and is as good a man personally as Mr. Obama. But to say he's a rich guy who's out of touch with the everyday American ain't a media fabrication–he really IS a rich guy who is out of touch, and that is clear every time he opens his mouth.

tarleton

The FACT that he spent his formation years in a bizare christian offshoot is hardly a selling point

Reagan , Clinton and even Bush junior had the common touch and the ability to identify with common folk …Kerry , Gore and Romney don't …I wouldn't say that Obama is affable ; his attraction is that he is perceived as being ''cool '' and hip

Jim_C

I would agree with that. Though I think Obama at least has a gift for connecting with what people are concerned about, and since he is hip, he gets the whole notion of "There's me, and there's the media created version of me." But this also makes him prone to gaffes like the "God and guns" thing. Neither Reagan, Clinton, nor Obama were born with silver spoons–but Clinton kept the common touch, where Obama adopted the elitist perspective. I don't mind elitism when it's honest–WFB for example.

PermReader

As a foreigner I`m annoyed by the Americans that see Obama likable.Besides his terrible policy he has by my opinion the repulsive appearance and impudent smile. For the Soviet demagogy weteran his demagogy is obvious and primitive with his harsh intonation of the sergeant.I see the great distance of the social demagogy teaching of the Americans and the Soviets` grim experience of the past.

Ghostwriter

Well,PermReader,I'm not a foreigner. I'm American but from what I see,President Obama's not doing a very good job. His policies haven't worked and have done more harm than good. There's going to be an election in November and I think that the President's not going to get reelected.

cynthia curran

Well, George W Bush was more of a elitist and so is his brother. Their view that Hispanics will flock to the Republican Party is certainly out of touch. Romney is judge harder since he didn't give a big tax cut like George W Bush. Personality Romney is more likable than the Bushes and Nixon in my opinion.

Loki1001

If you ever wonder how Obama won his second term in office, this post is a perfect explanation. While conservatives cocooned themselves in a delusional fantasy world, the rest of us lived in reality.